Help Marasie Recover From Her Brain Tumors

Our beautiful friend Marasie was diagnosed in July with a meningioma tumor in the lining of the brain and an intraosseous meningioma in the skull bone. Meningiomas are a common type of brain tumor and are usually slow growing and benign. The intraosseous meningioma is quite rare and has grown to cover a significant area.

These large growths are pushing on the brain and causing swelling of the brain and around the optic nerve. If the tumor is not removed it could eventually cause seizures, vision problems, blindness, and even strokes.

During Marasie’s first meeting with the neurosurgery department at Scripps Medical, it was recommended that she wait to have surgery until a specific neurosurgeon started in October, who specializes in “complex skull base surgery.” He is well regarded in the field and nationally known for this very type of surgery to remove skull-based tumors. Although it has been a long wait, Marasie is very heartened by Dr. Ciporen and his team and appreciates Dr. Ciporen’s thoughtful treatment plan.

Dr. Ciporen’s plan is for Marasie to undergo surgery in two stages on December 14 and 16. During these two days of surgery, the affected bone in the skull and behind the eye will be removed, then the tumor in the dura (lining of the brain) will be removed. The dura will need to be reconstructed and a carbon fiber cranial implant that was created with high-tech 3D CAD technology will replace the bone.

The doctors have a measured confidence that the tumor is benign but will not be certain until the tumor is removed and biopsied. There is the potential that the doctors will not be able to remove the entire tumor and, depending on the outcome of a biopsy, it is possible that Marasie may need to undergo radiation to treat the remaining tumor cells.

Marasie will likely be hospitalized for a couple of weeks post-surgery. Recovery time is around 3 months. Marasie’s parents have come to California to help care for her and her and Leandro’s two young children.

Many people have asked how they can help during this time. We created this page to ease the increasing medical bills, childcare, any in-home post-surgery care that is required, and to offer home care cleaning support while she’s at home recovering. You can also support her and her young family through Meal Train: https://mealtrain.com/o0v418

Marasie and her family would like to express a heartfelt thanks for all the thoughts, prayers and positive vibes everyone has been sending their way.

You can keep updated on her progress via her Caring Bridge page- https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/marasieschumacher. We all love her so much and wish her a speedy recovery!